Pages

Monday, July 19, 2010

Author Interview with Aubrie Dionne

Today, Science Fiction Fantasy author Aubrie Dionne is gracing this blog with her presence in my first ever interview with the author. Aubrie is a very good friend of mine, and her novel Messenger in the Mist comes out from Lyrical Press today.You can purchase Messenger in the Misthere.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself, Aubrie. (How long you've been writing, what your day job is, etc.)

I’ve been writing my whole life! My first attempt at fiction was a melancholy poem about unicorns in grade school. I started writing seriously with the intent for publication in 2006. My day job is teaching flute lessons and performing on the weekends, so I write in the mornings before work and then teach flute from 3-8 everyday except Fridays when I’m at the University teaching all day. The two careers balance each other out nicely, and the writing helps me with the stress of performing.

2. Messenger in the Mist comes out today (July 19). Tell us about it.

Star Nightengale is one of only a few riders fast enough to elude the mysterious beasts lurking in the moors. She has trained her entire life to be a messenger for the Elite Riders of Evenspark and races on horseback through the misted countryside, delivering correspondence to the bordering Fortress of Ravencliff. She risks her life for the gold to relocate her parents from their precarious home in the outskirts, for her illustrious career, and for an unrequited love.

On an important mission, Star discovers that she carries plans for the assassination of the one man who has captured her heart, Prince Valen of Ravencliff. Star must weigh her love against the livelihood that she has spent a lifetime to build and the country that she once thought was peaceful and just. To make matters worse, she learns that Prince Valen is secretly betrothed to Princess Vespa of Evenspark. Consequently, loving him would mean sundering already unstable relations between the two kingdoms.

Meanwhile, the mist is rising, enabling the Elyndra to gather in numbers and threaten the borders of both kingdoms. Star must unravel the mystery of their existence and forestall the war before they fall under invasion. In her search she uncovers the secret origins of her ancestors, revealing untold truths about the history of humanity.

3. What inspired you to write Messenger in the Mist?

I wanted to try to write a fantasy on another world different from the medieval Europe that so many traditional fantasies are set in. In addition, I wanted to add a sci fi twist to it at the end. I love strong women characters, horses, and getting mail, so the idea of a female letter carrier really peaked my interest. I asked the question: what if she had a letter she didn’t want to deliver?

4. You typically have very creative names for people and places in your novels. How did you come up with some of the names in Messenger in the Mist?

A lot of times I make up my character names. Star’s name came as a reference to the sci fi element of Messenger in the Mist. I wanted to give her a special name because the entire kingdom rests on her destiny.

Leer’s name reflects the shiftiness in his character. You don’t know if he’s good or bad. When someone leers at you, you feel uncomfortable, and that’s exactly what I wanted the reader to feel for him at the beginning.

Valen sounds like “valor”. I wanted his character to be the ultimate princely hero that makes the right decisions in the end even thought they are tough.

5. I know you are an author with three publishing companies. Can you tell us what other novels and short stories you have with them and if any are forthcoming?

I have a few short stories coming out in the fall: One in Wyvern Publication’s Mertales anthology, and another in A Fly in Amber’s fall issue. My short story, Malicifer, will be published as an ebook with Gypsy Shadow Publishing this summer. Other than that, I’m saving my latest novels for the agents to get a look-see first.

6. Do you have any advice for writers?

Keep writing and try different points of view and different genres. Writing short stories has strengthened my writing skills because I have to establish the characters and get to the point so much sooner than in a novel.